Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Judas Priest
Label: SPV Records
Released: 2001
Length: 78:43
Rating: 3/5
“Demolition” is one of the most controversial albums to come out of the metal scene in 2001. Controversial because the result didn’t match what the public was expecting. But that’s the problem of everyone who was still hoping for a new “Painkiller” (1990) or “Defenders Of The Faith” (1984), me included. Alongside “Turbo” (1986), “Demolition” is the band’s second album so far to survive a whole pile of audacious musical experiments. It’s a new story all its own, and it fuses the spirit of the band’s past and present in a fantastic way, with Judas Priest dosing it throughout with a generous helping of futuristic sounds. “Demolition” is another great album from the band, different in every respect, provocative, fresh and totally its own thing. Those who know me will say my brain has well and truly gone sour, because right after this album came out I was so badly shocked that I didn’t even want to listen to it. But that was a product of my own mind, my problem. Judas Priest have proven once again that they don’t give a damn about trends and that they keep serving up albums, completely free of any restrictions, that are truly something special, both in sound and in style, while staying loyal to their basic steel-clad stance that carried them to the top ranks of metal.
The album opens with Machine Man, actually the only track of the faster variety, since “Demolition” mostly offers mid-tempo songs. What hits you right away in Machine Man is the production. The track opens with a drum intro, nothing new for Priest, since that’s how classics like Painkiller or Sinner kick off too. The double bass pedal, still audible at the start, gets run over later by poisonous guitar riffing that sounds downright nasty. The sharp, steely, hissing guitar sound isn’t pushed to the front; Ripper’s vocal sits in the center, and, interestingly, so does Scott’s “snare drive”, which thanks to the trimmed-down lows sounds very “flat” and monotonous and can get boring, because it honestly comes across like a stamping machine. The rhythm in this song is the same all the way through. There’s plenty of room in the sound for the rattle of Ian Hill’s bass, though. That booming, deep bass tone grinds away fully and is clearly audible all through the production, which adds a huge contrast to the song, especially in the mid-tempo parts.
“Demolition” doesn’t have a sound as extreme as “Jugulator” (1997). On the new album Judas Priest once again flirt with the seventies and eighties and add modern, grooved-up sounds of fresh design. Those of you who know Glenn Tipton’s solo album “Baptism Of Fire” can already start guessing what we’re going to be talking about. “Demolition” was also produced by Glenn Tipton, the guy who obviously knows best in the band how to “twist” ossified riff structures into modern shapes and invent exciting new soundscapes that are almost not “Mansonesque”.
The songs written together by K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton contain the most classic Judas Priest elements, in the sense that those dominate in them. These are One On One, Hell Is Home, Close To You, Bloodsuckers and Lost And Found. For example, the heavyweight boxer One On One is basically a classically built song, but its sonic makeover offers an exciting bunch of new-age sounds, and that definitely doesn’t sit well with the “Halford era” fans. And this makeup is plastered on all the way through, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less, but there’s no avoiding it entirely. An extremely interesting cross between the old “classic” sound and new-age tricks is In Between. Alongside it, similarly interesting experiments are Jekyll And Hyde, Devil Digger, Subterfuge, Cyberface and the closing Metal Messiah, which are especially grooved-up compared to the rest of the material.
Still, the band’s classic touches shine through every single song on the album. So “Demolition” once again offers a lot more melody than “Jugulator” did. The album’s dynamics keep rolling, since the songs on it are tastefully mixed in style. After the grooved-up In Between comes, for instance, a pure “eighties riffing” assault with Feed On Me, but lo and behold, even its instrumental middle section carries a bit of testing out something new.
Compared to “Jugulator”, “Ripper” offers even more singing. Varied singing. Reviving the desired moods in the songs has fully succeeded with his help. “Ripper” is in the right place in the verses all the way through. Verses and music complement each other brilliantly. In fact, in the band’s expression they achieve a double, mutually reinforcing effect. So forget the Halford style, even though “Ripper” is able to conjure it up without any trouble. And he does conjure it up, but only where it’s truly needed to achieve a certain mood (the choruses of Metal Messiah and Bloodskuckers, the extra screams during Hell Is Home). What “Ripper” offers is strictly his own personal expression, which was also the wish of the other band members, for “Ripper” to be freed from the shackles that might bind him to the shadow of his predecessor. “Ripper” is the singer of Judas Priest on “Demolition” too, and every pathetic outburst and bawling for Halford is just a waste of time and energy and, honestly, plain blinkers that only narrow a person’s openness to new things.
But we know what kind of stuff Judas Priest are made of. They’ve never looked back, so don’t expect any classics in the 100% sense of the word on “Demolition”. The closest thing to it is the fantastic ballad Lost And Found, which truly brings the Judas Priest of the seventies back to life, though not in sound, which, even with bare acoustics in the mix, is steeled in a modern, lively way. So it’s not hard to guess that the songs wear many faces. In them, as on the album as a whole, solos and triple harmonies have lost their primacy; the modern Judas Priest build a new image purely on creating a massive atmosphere, which they achieve with expressive riffing in a ruffled, live compressor sound, through a grooved-up bass line, Ripper’s varied singing that sits front and center throughout, and Scott’s contrasting work on the drums. All these basic ingredients are superbly seasoned with modernly distorted sonic inserts, without which the special atmosphere that “Demolition” conjures up is impossible to imagine.
Oops, one more heads-up. In Europe “Demolition” also exists as a black digipack edition with two bonus tracks, a sticker with the logo and a guitar pick from the band. The two bonus tracks are a properly vampirized blast, Rapid Fire with a “Ripper” at full boil, and Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown), which Judas Priest grind out at a slower tempo than we’re used to from their other officially released versions of the song. Enjoy Ripper’s uncompromising screaming!
“Demolition” is a record of extreme contrasts in sonic depth, flowing artfully through all the elements of polished, fresh approaches and a damn lively new production. Judas Priest are staying on the right path, and “Demolition” confirms it. Tradition combined with fresh new creative ideas. That’s why Judas Priest sound youthful this time too, as well as shocking, exciting and provocative, which has always been their core motive.
Lineup
Tim “Ripper” Owens – vocals
Glenn Tipton – guitar
K.K. Downing – guitar
Ian Hill – bass
Scott Travis – drums
Production
Glenn Tipton
Tracklist
1. Machine Man
2. One On One
3. Hell Is Home
4. Jekyll And Hyde
5. Close To You
6. Devil Digger
7. Bloodsuckers
8. In Between
9. Feed On Me
10. Subterfuge
11. Lost And Found
12. Cyberface
13. Metal Messiah
BONUS TRACKS ON THE SPECIAL EDITION:
*14. Rapid Fire
*15. The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown)
*re-recorded in the studio with Ripper on vocals
Album length: 78:47
